20,000 jobs under threat as Indian company eyes up Land Rover and Jaguar

By RAY MASSEY

Last updated at 22:20 19 December 2007

Fears for the future of nearly 20,000 jobs were raised yesterday as Jaguar and Land Rover looked almost certain to be bought by an Indian company.

The luxury car-makers are being sold as a job lot by Ford to the industrial conglomerate Tata for £1billion.

Tata is expected to be announced as the preferred bidder imminently, perhaps as early as tomorrow, and insiders say the deal is "essentially done".

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Tata has suggested it will retain all Jaguar and Land Rover factories.

But experts say the two companies - which share some key facilities - have "one factory too many" between them.

Land Rover's Solihull plant in the West Midlands could be the most vulnerable to closure, particularly as production of the Land Rover Freelander has already been switched to the former Jaguar plant at Halewood on Merseyside.

Experts suggest that in future all Land Rovers could be built at Halewood, with all Jaguar production concentrated at Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands.

Ford is selling Jaguar, which employs 9,000 workers in Britain, and Land Rover, which employs 10,000, in an attempt to cut its losses of £3.55billion.